Living With Depression

Helen Meadows' life went from fast forward to pause eight years ago when her restless daughter Jasmine was diagnosed with several mental health disorders, including seizures, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and depression.

The mother and daughter duo were among several families who shared their stories Wednesday at the Broward County Commission office during Children's Mental Health Summit Day.

Meadows sought professional help from the Parent Advocacy Coalition, a local mental health service provider, when doctors told her of her daughter's conditions. A few years later her son Stephon also was diagnosed with Serious Emotional Disturbance, or SED.

Meadows had to stop working to care for her children. Then the single mom had a realization: She saw a lot of Jasmine's symptoms in herself.

"I started noticing that Jasmine is a lot like I was when I was a child," Meadows said. "Then I was diagnosed with [ADHD], too. It all made sense."

Wednesday's event was hosted by One Community Partnership, a six-year project created to evaluate, redesign and serve as an umbrella organization for hundreds of mental health services for children in Broward County, according to Project Director Donna Sogegian. About 300 families are receiving services through the partnership.

"We wanted to develop an infrastructure to make it easier for families to find help," Sogegian said.

In its third year, the partnership is working with an $11 million federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services. Sogegian said One Community Partnership will eventually transition into a local non-profit organization, Sogegian said.

The Parent Advocacy Coalition is one of the groups that functions under the partnership. Its coordinator, Jill Harris, said she knows firsthand what it's like to live with a mental health disorder. She and her family have struggled with a combination of such illnesses.

"When people come to me, I really understand them," Harris said. "Parents have to know that many times they have to evaluate themselves in order to help their kids."

Julia Merel, who has suffered from depression since her first marriage in Panama and whose children, Ignacio and Christina also suffer from depression and ADHD, knows how difficult it can be for parents with mental illnesses to help children with similar conditions.

"When you have a mental illness, you don't see all of the problems that are really there and you make a lot of mistakes," Merel said. "It's a slow process of recovery."

Meadows agreed.

"I've been able to stabilize myself and my kids," she said. "I'm ready to start working again."

For more information on the One Community Partnership, visit www.broward.org/onecommunity/ or call 954-797-7199, ext. 104.

Elizabeth Baier can be reached at ebaier@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4631.